Mahina Mele
Mahina Mele is one of the main protagonists in Pokemon Tabletop: Hunters of Noh Islands. A quirky young lady with a haunting past guides her through the perils of her life. Aeon highly recommends using the table of contents. Bio & History History Story Born in Kno’leh, on the island of Vohok, the only family Mahina ever knew was her mother. She never really bothered herself with finding out the actual answer of “why” she only had her mother. The lack of knowledge she had did not bother her in the slightest. Lacking a father figure growing up never bothered her, and she assumed her mother had been an only child as well, and that her parents had likely passed on sometime before she was old enough to really know or remember them—possibly even before she was born. Instead of worrying about her lack of family, she preferred having a good relationship with her mother. This included wanting to be a typical sight on the campus of the academy since her mother taught music history there. When she was still a very small child—no more than three years old at the time—she fell prey to the hypnotic powers of an apparently deranged Hypno. Seemingly harmless, the wild Pokémon lured her out of her home near sunset, and further and further into the wilderness. Mahina’s hypnotic trance only ended once the two were deep in the wilderness, where the Hypno turned on her, clearly intending harm to the small child. It was at this point that the Pokémon was attacked, and child saved, by a Decidueye appearing from somewhere in the darkness and attacking the deranged Psychic type until it fled into the night. While the Ghost type did not appear to have a trainer nearby, it did make sure to take Mahina home before vanishing as well. After a time, her young mind settled on a quite effective method for coping with the traumatic incident—it blocked the incident from her memory in its entirety. Despite having no conscious memory of the event, Mahina still holds an irrational fear of Hypno to this day, along with a clear discomfort around Psychic types in general. Her mother noticed she seemed to be developing a fascination with Ghost types afterwards as well. The rest of her childhood was spent splitting her time between educational studies and what she dubbed as “field research”. Her mother found this bemusing, but let her daughter do all of the exploring of Ahn’Doh Woods and Sah’hi Marsh as she wanted—albeit with an “assistant”. These “assistants” were in reality budding trainers and older students being bribed with extra credit primarily to keep Mahina safe from aggressive wild Pokémon, and take a few notes on the local wildlife. If she was not out in the fields, she insisted on focusing all of her educational studies on the occult and supernatural. When she was on the academy campus, either learning on her own time in the library or in a proper classroom, it was clear the young girl had a clear and irrational fear of the retired professor who happened to be a Hypno. No one—including Mahina—was ever sure why she was scared of this professor, but she was very glad she had him for none of her classes. Fortunately, later on he was entirely absent from the campus, apparently due to leaving for his own research on other islands. Eventually, her studies led to her learning how to mind meld with a Pokémon, opening up her opportunity to begin on the road to becoming a Pokémon trainer. As she hit her early teen years, she began to have vague memories of a snippet from some childhood dream. This vague imagery depicted the figure of a stoic and compassionate Decidueye. Within days of this memory surfacing, she had set her mind upon using her knowledge of mind melding to tame a Rowlet of her own. Sure, she truly wanted the final stage of the evolutionary line, but it would be far easier to find and mind meld with the base form of the species. With her decision made, the endeavor became the mission of her early teen years. They were not exactly the most common Pokémon to come by, so it took her some months to locate a nesting area, ultimately finding one deep in the Ahn’Doh Woods. The first specimen she came across was a rather feisty and young individual, easily a challenge for a human with no Pokémon to back them up. Mahina gained a good amount of scratches from the young owl in her attempt to mind meld with it. One of these sets of scratches dug into her right shoulder rather deep, ultimately leading to a prominent scar later on. After their scuffle, she managed to successfully mind meld with the Rowlet, causing him to calm down and rather happily go back to her home with her. The promise of food upon arrival certainly didn’t hurt matters. Over the next few days, Mahina eventually settled on a name for her new companion. Ultimately the name she settled upon held the meaning of “savior”, something she thought was rather fitting—Zachránce. Over the next few years, she continued to study at the academy, Zach a constant sight by her side. It was quite common to see the two with their faces pressed into a book of some occult topic or another, the young lady reading the words out loud for her partner. She did not know if he understood what she was saying, but she also did not care in the slightest. Mahina enjoyed reading to the owl, and none of the academy staff saw any harm in it either. Not long after she had her sixteenth birthday, she started to yearn for travel and adventure. Many of her classmates had already set off on their own journeys, and the freedom to go wherever the winds took her fit so well with her perception of Ghost type Pokémon that she just had to experience it for herself. Her mother, however, was less than pleased when her daughter expressed her want of adventure. She made it quite clear that she would much rather see her daughter go on to become a teacher at the academy as well. While she did not mention it to Mahina out of fear of causing her to relive the traumatic encounter, her mother feared she would endure another event akin to her run-in with the Hypno. Being the rebellious young spirit that she was, Mahina openly opposed staying in Kno’Leh and did everything in her power to prove she and Zach could handle themselves no matter what the world threw at them. Eventually, her mother gave in. It was clear the two had a very close bond, and that kind of relationship would not meet its full potential from being holed up in a classroom or library. She did give her daughter one stipulation to allowing her to go off on her own; she had to acquire another Pokémon companion to aid her and Zach in their travels. Seeing the challenge as an easy task, the budding trainer quickly agreed. She even knew exactly which kind of Pokémon she would add to her team next. It was a rather common thing to see Litwicks gallivanting about the city after sunset, and being another ghost one would surely help in her goal to learn more of the occult. Eagerly setting out that same night, she attempted to successfully mind meld with one of the ghostly candles for hours. It was nearing dawn when she finally gave up for the night; Zach had been trying in vain to drag her back home to sleep for a good while by that point. This same scenario played out again on each of the next three nights. Disheartened, Mahina began to doubt her ability to be a trainer, the thought of mind melding with Zach having been no more than a fluke. She even considered giving up entirely. Her avian companion’s feathers ruffled quite aggressively when she voiced this thought aloud. The Rowlet began harrying her with pecks, scratches, and whaps from his wings until she agreed to keep trying. Now placated by their shared dream of adventure being assured, he watched contentedly as Mahina began drafting up a plan to study the local population of Litwicks more closely to get a better edge against them. It took a solid week of nightly stakeouts before she felt confident in the amount of knowledge she had gained about the wild Pokémon and their habits. This knowledge proved to be the edge she needed to successfully mind meld with one, finally managing to capture a rather small and skittish one. She quickly settled on the name of Jiskra for her new companion, due to the little ghost’s habit of sending off sparks of fire when startled. Success achieved, she returned home to rest and begin packing to leave. During this time, her mother had a private chat with Zachránce, assured he could at least understand human speech after the years of listening to Mahina read to him. She told him of the incident that her daughter could not remember, and how it had left her with a deep-seated fear of Hypno and general distrust of Psychic types. He seemed to understand what she said, so she told him to keep her daughter safe before sending him back off to the young woman. Now packed up and prepared for travel, the new trainer set off for adventure, her two companions by her side and sharing in her excitement to see the world. Only a few months into their travels, Mahina came to the realization that she could not always rely solely on her team for safety and protection. She needed to be able to protect them just as much as they protected her. The obvious solution was to train herself to be capable of holding her own in a fight. It needed to be some form of training that would let her adequately fight alongside Zach and Jiskra. The Rowlet would eventually evolve into a good physical ranged fighter, and Litwick’s eventual evolution to Chandelure would be excellent at elemental attacks from range. Naturally, the team needed someone who could battle in close range, so the trio set off for the Great Monastery of Vohok Island. The monks there would surely have the knowledge to train her how to fight. Upon arriving, she found they were quite willing to teach her, and began training her on how to fight with a spear. As she trained, her Pokémon also trained as well, gaining some power and battle experience alongside Mahina. The training itself seemed to fly by, and before she knew it a year had passed since she began training. Thanking them quite gratefully, she bid the monks farewell and left to continue her travels with her Pokémon. History Outline Raised by a single mother Music history teacher at the academy Had two Pokemon of her own A Kricketune named Ke Kino A Sensu Style Oricorio named Maikaʻi Knew of no other family members No knowledge of her father Mother likely an only child Grandparents likely passed on Nearly abducted by a deranged Hypno as a small child Saved by a Decidueye Unsure if Decidueye was wild or captured Blocked the incident from her memory entirely Still holds an irrational fear of Hypno General discomfort around Psychic types Ghost type obsession spawned from this Explored much of Sah’hi Marsh and Ahn’Doh Woods Focused her education on nature and the occult Learned mind melding through her studies Insisted she would mind meld with a Rowlet Mission of her early teen years Vague memory of a dream of a stoic Decidueye Wanted her starter to be of the same line Succeeded in her venture in the Ahn’Doh Woods The young Rowlet was a rather feisty one Gained a good few scratches in the process One set left a scar on her right shoulder Named him Zachránce upon returning home Felt a name meaning “savior” was fitting Decided she wanted to leave home at sixteen Yearned for the freedom of Ghost types Her mother was against her leaving home Preferred the idea of her becoming a teacher Feared a repeat of the Hypno incident Did not mention this to Mahina Her mind still had the memory repressed She eventually gave in to her daughter’s wishes Saw how close she and Zach were already Insisted she needed a second Pokémon though She agreed, targeting local Litwicks in the city Initially disheartened after four nights of failure Considered giving up on her venture Zach harried her until she agreed to keep at it Decided to study the habits of the Litwicks Managed to learn enough to capture one Dubbed her new companion Jiskra Habit of sending off sparks when startled Success in hand, she set off on her adventures Before this, her mother had a chat with Zach She told the owl about the Hypno incident Afterwards she told him to keep her safe Less than a year into her travels, began training herself Realized her team could not always protect her Sought out monks of the Great Monastery Learned how to fight with a spear under them Took roughly a year to complete the training More prepared now, they set off for the island of Jahgri Had seen light snowfall during winters on Vohok Wanted to witness the icy tundra for herself Encountered a Snorunt on this expedition She seemed to be starving Mahina fed her, quickly earning her trust Quite willingly went with the mind meld Named her Zima after the constant winter Traveled with her team for a few more years Zach evolved to a Dartrix during this time Eventually encouraged to join the hunter’s guild Enjoyed the freedom she had with no ties Did like the idea of having her own income Had been sent money for necessities till then At her mother’s insistence Proved relatively easy for her and her team to join Regularly paired up with various people Remained rather private and enigmatic Obsession with ghosts unnerved most Appearance Rather tall and thin, she has a very willowy build with muscles clearly toned from years of travel and training. Her eyes shimmer like amethysts, and her platinum blonde hair is accented oddly by vibrant and sparkling blue underlays. She insists this is natural, though most suspect she attained the blue coloring through some magical means she uncovered during her studies of the occult. Personality At first glance, Mahina comes off as a quiet and quirky young woman with a deep fascination with the occult. She prefers to keep to herself for the most part, though she will gladly hold a conversation should someone approach her. If someone should show even the slightest interest in the occult they will find that quiet and reserved exterior immediately gone and replaced with an eagerness to share her knowledge of ghosts and the supernatural. This eagerness is also rather blatant in her efforts to see the world. Her outwardly reserved nature is exasperated by a rather short attention span. Anything that catches her eye, no matter how seemingly unimportant it is, can easily have her distracted. How long she remains distracted is anyone’s guess. Many find her rather childish for this lack of focus, along with her general excitability over anything related to the occult. With little in the way of hardships that she can remember, she holds a rather carefree and lackadaisical outlook on life. This outlook only further serves to exasperate her childish quirks. Though often seen as obnoxious for this childishness, many find it endearing due to her firm grasp on that same earnest fascination for life she had as a child—the same fascination that invariably led to her current adventures. While some assume her preference for keeping to herself is to add to some image of being an enigmatic occultist, in reality she has just grown rather accustomed to traveling with no company aside from her team of Pokémon. Those who get past this reserved demeanor for more than just the odd conversation often find themselves as one of the “lucky” people to become targets of her ghosts’ pranks. She gladly aids in these pranks as well, trying to emulate the ghosts she holds so dear to her heart. The general unfamiliarity she has with most social interaction leaves her with little understanding of the various intricacies involved in it. As such, should she try to deceive someone, the lie is painfully obvious; often sounding much like the flimsy tale expected from a child attempting to lie. She is well aware of her lack of guile, and prefers to be honest to avoid her inability to convincingly lie. This also leads to her being rather quick to trust others, though the same cannot always be said about others trusting her. Whether due to her love of ghosts, knowledge of the occult, or ability to appear seemingly out of nowhere, people often find her rather intimidating. Having a preference for getting what she wants through charm, she will take full advantage of her intimidating aura when needed. Her intimidating side comes full swing should someone try to harm one of her dear friends. It is common knowledge that there is a dark and sinister side to the occult, Mahina being more than happy to show just how deep into that side she will delve for the sake of her friends and their safety. Other Info Goals Aiming to train Zach up enough to be a truly remarkable specimen of a Decidueye Also seeking to mind meld with more Ghost type Pokémon Dreams Dreams of one day coming face to face with the legendary figure of Giratina Obsessions Obsessed with Ghost type Pokémon and the occult Quirks Tends to forget she herself is not a ghost, and ends up smacking face first into the first wall she tries to go through Special Items, Trinkets and Keepsakes Relationships Pokemon Current Team Reserves Session Notes